The latest big-wig to dream about owning a colossal casino on Toronto’s waterfront is Larry Tanenbaum, billionaire and chair of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Like MGM Resorts International, which has been quite vocal about its preference for a waterfront casino, Tanenbaum was quoted in the Globe and Mail saying he’d prefer a casino along the water, near the core. While most of the early buzz came from Nevada stalwarts like MGM and Caesars Entertainment, Tanenbaum is the second mega-rich Torontonian to show interest. Earlier this week, Gerald Schwartz, head of the Toronto-based buyout firm Onex Corporation and one of the 25 Canadians to make Forbes’ billionaires list, told the Globe and Mail Onex would “definitely be interested” in opening a casino in Toronto, and not just on the downtown waterfront. Another difference between the two Toronto-based titans? Schwartz is the owner of the Tropicana hotel and casino in Las Vegas and Casino ABS in Edmonton, Lethbridge and Calgary. Tanenbaum, meanwhile, only has gaming experience on a much smaller scale: his company, the Kilmer Group, operates charity bingo gaming centres in Barrie, Hawkesbury, Pembroke, Penetang and Sudbury, Ontario. Since casino proponents are thinking mega-complexes, not bingo halls, Tanenbaum had better start looking for partners. [Globe and Mail]
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A lot of casino questions (and few answers) at Rob Ford’s executive meeting
(Image: Phil Marion from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
MGM and Caesars Entertainment may already be scoping out Toronto as a potential site for a massive resort casino (and have some, er, very nice brochures to help make their case), but yesterday’s executive committee meeting at city council suggests there won’t be any concrete decisions for a while. After listening to deputations from recovering gambling addicts, big-time investors, the Canadian Gaming Association and more, the committee voted to have city staff study the idea and city manager Joe Pennachetti report back in October. That comprehensive report should examine whether or not to have a referendum on the question, the possible effects on job and crime rates, the economic costs and benefits to the city, and—everyone’s favourite topic of speculation—where to put the thing if Toronto agrees to it.
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QUOTED: Giorgio Mammoliti explains how to have sex with 150 men at once
(Image: Christopher Drost)
—Outspoken and often idiotic councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, airing his grievances with the Toronto Police Service’s recent decision to put a hold on john sweeps. The cop shop is putting a temporary stop to the long-standing sting operations in light of the court ruling in March that declared Canada’s prostitution laws unconstitutional. Police spokesperson Mark Pugash says the force is against using resources to arrest johns when there’s so much uncertainty surrounding prostitution laws. Mammoliti, on the other hand, says the laws should be enforced as long as they still exist—if only to save people from sloppy seconds. [Toronto Sun]
Doug Holyday wants to ban casino lobbyists (who are already making the rounds at city hall)
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Doug Holyday, one of Rob Ford’s closest non-familial allies, hasn’t yet said what he thinks about the prospect of a GTA mega-casino, but he did come out strongly on one aspect of the debate—he thinks casino lobbyists should be banned from city hall. At an executive committee meeting today, Holyday planned to propose the city stop the sub-set of lobbyists from petitioning councillors, saying the casino owners have deep pockets, and allowing lobbying to proceed would result in a “free for all.” He’s probably on to something: the city has previously imposed lobbying blackouts while councillors thought over over big contracts like garbage collection or voting machines. And the companies that have expressed interest in building the complex certainly do have a lot of money behind them—they include MGM, which has already hired a lobbying firm, Caesars Entertainment and, most recently, Gerry Schwartz, head of buyout firm Onex Corporation and one of Canada’s richest people. [Toronto Sun]
Paul Godfrey really, really wants a casino, and he really, really wants it downtown
(Image: Ian McKellar)
Paul Godfrey, chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, still hasn’t given up on the idea of a mega-casino in Toronto (he makes his case in Toronto Life this month), and he’s pushing hard to put it on the downtown waterfront. The businessman is basically begging councillors not to dismiss a casino before all the facts are in, and said that, put anywhere but downtown, the complex “wouldn’t be as iconic. We would have to be satisfied with something less.” Adam Vaughan and Mike Layton, who both have anti-casino motions scheduled for the mayor’s executive committee on Monday, didn’t sound swayed by Godfrey’s pitch. “All the research I’ve done, it’s saying run and hide from these things,” said Layton. That, or push them out to Etobicoke. [Globe and Mail]
A federal government appeal jeopardizes Toronto’s bawdy house plans
Not just yet, Toronto. Not just yet (Image: Larry Page)
All the talk about where to put brothels in the city (and how to make money off them) may have been a tad premature—the federal government has made the not-very-surprising decision to appeal the Ontario court ruling to decriminalize bawdy houses, which was supposed to take effect 11 months from now. The Harper government is also appealing the decriminalization of living “off the avails of prostitution” in non-exploitative situations, which was set to take effect within days. If the the Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear the appeal, the face off between the Harper government and the lawyers acting for the sex workers pushing to soften the province’s laws regulating prostitution likely won’t happen until late this year, or early 2013. Though some say the government’s chances of overturning the Ontario ruling are slim, we wouldn’t open a Bunny Ranch bordello VIP account just yet. [Globe and Mail]
Giorgio Mammoliti has some more ideas on brothels (like how to make money off them)
The dream is over (Image: Like_the_Grand_Canyon)
Giorgio Mammoliti (who seems to be everywhere this week) has a few more thoughts about Toronto-area brothels—specifically, how the city could profit from them. In a letter to Cesar Palacio, who heads the licensing and standards committee, and Peter Milczyn, who oversees planning and growth management, Mammoliti argued the city should levy fees from now-legal bawdy houses like the Bunny Ranch brothel (coming soon to a neighbourhood near you!). He thinks a $15,000 annual licensing fee for each bordello worker would do the trick. Those fees, Mammo told the Toronto Sun, could help keep criminals, pimps and sex traffickers out. Also, Toronto needs to act fast to take control of the brave new world of legalized brothels, since currently there aren’t many zoning or licensing regulations in place (or, as he told the paper, “Toronto has got caught with its pants down”). The councillor also took the opportunity to make it clear that he no longer wants to turn the Toronto Islands into a red-light district. Funnily enough, he realized that wasn’t one of his better ideas. [Toronto Sun]
The casino debate turns to location, location, location (and Torontonians disagree with MGM’s choice)
(Image: smneale)
Even though Toronto hasn’t agreed to host a casino—and may not even decide until 2014—the rampant speculation as to where it should go continues. The two main contenders: Etobicoke and the downtown waterfront. The Toronto Star reports U.S. giant MGM Resorts International is really only interested in spots close to the lake and the downtown business district, like Ontario Place or the Port Lands. Though a recent poll touts Woodbine racetrack as a preferred casino location among Torontonians, MGM believes suburban Etobicoke is fine for an old-fashioned (read: lame-o) casino, but not for the multi-billion-dollar entertainment mecca it would like to build.
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The famous Bunny Ranch brothel is coming to Toronto
(Image: screenshot from the Toronto Sun’s website)
One of the side effects of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision to legalize bawdy-houses: awkward newspaper columns (and even more awkward homepage images). In the Toronto Sun today, columnist and self-described libertarian Mike Strobel gets pretty… excited about the possibility of Toronto getting a Bunny Ranch brothel. Dennis Hof, who owns the famous brothel chain in Nevada, spoke to Strobel over the phone—while surrounded by “a whole bunch of beautiful half-naked women”—and said he plans to visit Toronto this June to scout sites that could accommodate 15 to 20 rooms for conducting business, a dorm for the ladies and a five-star restaurant. In addition to the permissive legal climate, Hof says he’s drawn to Toronto because it’s a “classy European kind of city with flair and style.” Though, if Toronto signs up for both an MGM mega-casino and a Bunny Ranch brothel, the city will have more in common with Las Vegas than Europe. Read the entire story [The Toronto Sun] »
Las Vegas heavyweight MGM sends agents into Toronto’s casino debate
The restrained decor at the Luxor in Las Vegas (Image: Jordan)
Reports of Toronto’s ongoing should-we-or-shouldn’t-we casino debate have made their way to Nevada. Gaming giant MGM Resorts International, the company behind Vegas’s Bellagio, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and The Mirage, wants Toronto to agree to the Ontario government’s casino idea. So much so that MGM hired local firm Sussex Strategy Group to lobby city hall on its behalf (Sussex has already had a chat with anti-casino councillor Mike Layton, who wants to bar Ontario Place as a possible site). MGM is floating the idea of a $2 billion-to-$6 billion investment in the city that would go beyond the usual slot machines and craps tables and include hotels, convention space and spas. It’s still too early for specific details of the mega-complex, but we’d bet against understatement: after all, these are the folks who decided to build a 110-foot replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza in front of one of their hotels. [Globe and Mail]
QUOTED: Giorgio Mammoliti thinks unemployed single moms should become dealers
(Image: Christopher Drost)
—Giorgio Mammoliti, explaining how single moms could win big by becoming card dealers if Toronto had a casino. Appearing on Rob and Doug Ford’s radio show this weekend, Mammo argued a swanky gambling complex could create “10,000 jobs” for residents and—even better—bring Celine Dion to Toronto’s shores. But that blissful scenario could belong to Mississauga or Markham, he warned, if Torontonians don’t support the idea (next month, Ford’s executive committee will consider whether to hold a referendum on the question). Single mothers may want to brush up on their chip counting and card shuffling anyway. [Toronto Sun]
Rob Ford’s Sheppard Line could be built solely by casino-money—500 years from now
(Image: Christopher Drost)
Metro blogger and noted Rob Ford critic Matt Elliott attacks the idea of a Toronto casino today (and without invoking the future of the city’s children). Instead, he does some math to see whether turning Ontario Place into a massive and swanky “entertainment destination” really could bankroll ambitious projects like the mayor’s cherished subway line to Scarborough. Doubling the direct revenue the City of Niagara Falls got from its casino in 2010 (because Toronto’s casino would be much bigger), and estimating that a subway would cost $300 million per kilometre, Elliott calculates that a casino-funded line to Scarborough Town Centre would open in—drum roll—about 500 years. Which is about as long as it’ll take for urban and suburban councillors to come to an agreement about whether a casino is a good idea. Read the entire story [Metro] »
Let’s hope the peace and love down at city hall continues today as councillors debate whether to put the question of a Toronto casino to voters (again). Michael Thompson, chairman of the city’s economic development committee, wants a ballot this fall and thinks the province, which instigated the casino plan, should front $7 million or so to pay for a referendum. Adam Vaughan, who opposes the would-be gambling complex, wants the city to wait and just throw the question onto the ballot during the next general election in 2014. The motions each require the support of two thirds of council to move along to debate; otherwise, they’ll be punted to Rob Ford’s executive committee. For his part, the mayor has previously said he supports putting a question about casinos on the 2014 ballot (along with one about subways, of course), but he’s so far said nothing about a mid-term vote. This could get interesting. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
Casinos are exactly like state-subsidized “smoking palaces,” according to Marcus Gee
(Image: Ian McKellar)
We thought Richard Florida’s disdain for casinos was intense, but the Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee may have him beat. Today, the columnist reproaches Ontario for wanting to open a casino—excuse us, “entertainment destination”—in Toronto, writing that a casino on the waterfront makes as much sense as building a state-funded “smoking palace.” In Gee’s eyes, gambling is a vice, just like smoking, and governments shouldn’t be looking to make money off the weaknesses of the vulnerable (in this case, the approximately 340,000 problem gamblers in Ontario). With both Adam Vaughan and Mike Layton bringing motions before council today to oppose a waterfront casino, Gee makes his case in pretty extreme terms, writing that “hospitals will have to deal with the wrecked health of desperate gamblers” and kids “will never finish their education because they become hooked on gambling.” Bleak? Yes. Toronto’s future? We’ll have to wait and see. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
Miffed Ontario finance minister tells Toronto plenty of cities would love a casino
(Image: Ian McKellar)
Sounding like a spurned suitor, Ontario finance minister Dwight Duncan says if downtown councillors like Adam Vaughan and Mike Layton don’t want his fancy gambling complex, he’ll find someone who will. Having found Toronto somewhat unreceptive to the prospect of to a casino on its waterfront, Duncan warned the city that other jurisdictions have “quite aggressively” lobbied the province for the project—including Hamilton, whose mayor, Bob Bratina, has already “put feelers out” and has a meeting scheduled with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation later this month. Duncan says Toronto stands to miss out on the casino revenue and a “golden mile” of spinoffs that could spur between $3 and $4 billion in investment and create thousands of jobs. Still, many—including Richard Florida—think the casino wouldn’t be the economic boon that Duncan is hyping it to be. (To be precise, Florida’s words were “unmitigated disaster.”) Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
